An intensive, AI-focused marketing course that includes comprehensive resources, guest speakers, challenges and competitions, with a strong emphasis on action, rapid progress, and authentic engagement, all under the strict, efficient guidance of your course leader who has over 28 years in digital marketing.

Who is this for?

Current or past interns or any student for that matter, interested in AI and audience building with short videos.

Current customers who want to get ahead of the curve experimenting with the hottest marketing trends since the debut of the world wide web.

Any organization that’s on a tight budget and can’t afford a one-on-one monthly marketing retainer but wants to get their hands dirty and try these tools themselves.

Anyone with extremely limited time but want to keep up with training of current AI Marketing trends and use a self-paced learning plan (video library & recommended curriculum).

This Course is Fuelled by AI

And you are going to harness it, master it, and conquer it.

But we’re not stopping at the boundaries of technology. We’re delving into the negative spaces — the territories untamed by AI — to uphold the essence of authenticity and human touch in our campaigns.

We will strike a balance between state-of-the-art technology and holding focus on the timeless value of human connection and trust.

  • Text to image AI with MidJourney, Stable Diffusion & Dalle. Generative fill with Adobe Photoshop

    ChatGPT: Transcription summaries, voice over scripts from long form content, coding, email writing, marketing & competitive research

    Other Chatbots: Bing, Bard & Claude

    AI agents: Auto-GPT

    Prompt Engineering

    Audio Enhance with Descript and Adobe

    Voice cloning with Descript & Eleven Labs

    Image restoration & enhancement

    AI best practices & AI statements of use & transparency

    Video Editing AI

    ~image popup: MidJourney, Bing & Eleven Labs

The Arsenal at Your Disposal is Massive

We're not talking run-of-the-mill weaponry here. We're talking about a hand-crafted, original website template, precision-engineered for small businesses and organizations. This is your fortress, your HQ, the heart of your marketing journey with me.

  • I will create a personal copy of my template for you where you’ll use to execute things you learn in class. It’s a full Squarespace website and it’s free for 90 days at which time you can purchase it for $275 / year.

    ~image popup: Wireframe of the website template:

    7.1 Fluid Engine
    Custom home page funnel

    *A 6 month commitment to the class is required for a copy of our website template. You can take drop in the class as desired without our website template.

Collaborative Video Editing Beast

A cloud-based, ready-to-roll powerhouse to create gripping, highly addictive, short-form vertical videos, designed to hold your audience's attention and spark a robust emotional connection.

  • Kapwing is the easiest, most accessible video editing tool I’ve worked with in 20 years.

    It requires no software — runs direct from your browser and I’ll be giving you access to my complete video library where in addition to working with your own templates, you’ll be able to get under to hood on all of my videos.

    ~image popup: Kapwing Screen

Zoom Class Every Tuesday at 12 PM CST

+Office hours every Friday morning at 6 AM

Starting Tuesday, August 8th, 2023

Meetings are recorded and then parsed into mini videos and categorized into our members only marketing training library.

Reserve Your Spot

Pay at the End of the Month Only if Satisfied

  • Free for Interns & Existing Customers

    Any interns or students are free as well as one person from any organization who is currently paying for our services (i.e. monthly / quarterly retainer, site build in progress).

  • 1 Hr Zoom Class · Every Tues 12 PM CST

    Plus Office Hours, Fridays at 6 AM

    Some meet greet and then it’s full on marketing following an agenda that you can contribute to.

    You will have tasks to complete each week.

  • Members Only Video Tutorial Library

    Classes are recorded along with tutorials on AI, Video Editing, Graphic Design, Email Marketing and Social. You are not attending class or office hours but you are encouraged to submit ideas for future videos.

*You will be billed the last day of every month with the assumption you are finding value. Payment is expected due on receipt — pay by credit card or bank, or recurring.

Email a written permanent cancellation due to inappropriate fit or lack of value found before the last day of the month.

Membership pauses for schedule conflicts are always welcome for later reinstatement.

Group Discounts

$1,500 / Month

Send as many as you’d like from your organization and cap the monthly cost to $1,500 / month.

Private 1/2 Day Training

$2,000

Custom curriculum prepared for your 1/2 day, one time session for your group.

What’s Gear’s Included

A Squarespace website custom designed with a home page landing, video blog template & custom enhancements*.

Members only exclusive access to:

  • Kapwing Video Library*

  • Figma Graphic Design Library*

  • Google Docs Library

  • Custom Code Library from Codepen

  • Members Only Video Tutorial Library

  • Weekly 1 hour class

  • Weekly Office Hours

  • Meet other marketing folks

  • Meet marketing interns

*Requires a 6 month commitment

These tools are not required to take the class but some require a monthly subscription cost which I cover and a fair amount of effort to set up per person.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • As AI is the most significant tool covered, then the $250 monthly could be your best bet and skip the weekly class. Or, review our agenda and pay $500 for the months with topics aligned with your goals and downgrade to $250 for months where you access the library only.

  • Any student, previous, current or future intern can join the class at no charge.

    Any current customer who is paying for a website build or any level on monthly or quarterly maintenance gets a free seat.

    We’ll also give you 3 months free classes and library access after a website has been built or a maintenance agreement ended.

    Our mission is to help any students, especially those in our community and any customer’s we’ve done any work with to ensure their business health through cost effective and powerful marketing as best we can.

  • First come, first serve in terms of answering specific questions on anything — what we’ve worked on in class, something on your website, social media, email.

    If you’re taking the monthly class, we want to help you get some level of support at the most cost effective budget possible.

  • Only in class ridicule the next time you show up :)

    Just kidding — kind-of.

    If you’re just missing because of schedule conflicts but still want to continue with the course, I’ll bill you half — 50%, $250 for that month to fund the ongoing videos.

    If you show up for at least one class for the month, you’ll be billed the entire month unless you wish to cancel your membership (permanent) due to value not found.

Have a specific question?

Reserve your spot

Before August 8th

Your instructor

Hi, I am Gary Ricke, and today I have the pleasure of stepping into the role of your marketing drill instructor.

Let's start by going a little bit back in time.

I took a leap of faith in May of 1995, leaving the comfort of the family plastics business to join a friend in creating something we were passionate about: The Plastics Network. My drive to leave my own digital footprint led me to establish my own venture, Orbis Web Design, in 1998.

This year, on the 8th of August, we are set to celebrate a milestone - our 25th anniversary.

I’ve seen incredible changes, especially in the world of digital marketing. I was there when it was born, and today, I can tell you, the transformations happening right now seem even more monumental than those at the birth of the web itself.

Before AI became mainstream with the introduction of Dall-e last July, I joined TikTok, Reels and YouTube shorts in April. The power of short-form vertical video gripped me within the first 15 minutes. I made a commitment then and there to release a 60-second video every week, and it transformed my business in a way that no other marketing effort had in the preceding 23 years.

Today, AI is in the limelight. Some of the most intelligent and accomplished people among us are cautioning that AI could be a nuclear-level event for the survival of our civilization. If that doesn't highlight the sheer potential and power of the marketing opportunities before us, I honestly don't know what would.

But while we embrace these tools, I stand firm in my belief in responsible and transparent AI use. It's crucial for us to retain the human element within the content we create and disseminate.

So, to all small businesses and organizations, particularly those local ones I've grown with: Start experimenting with these tools right away.

I invite you to join my class, an intense course designed to inject your marketing skills with what can only be compared to marketing steroids.

Let's shape the future together, responsibly, effectively, and always keeping the human touch intact.